Mommy's Actual 40th Birthday

So today is my birthday and it is a big one. Some people call it a milestone birthday. The big 4-0! That's all there really is to say about it. I got lots of good birthday wishes and went out to a nice dinner and that's about all...for now.

I didn't get any photos of myself today, but I wanted to capture the day somehow and luckily I had these shots of some of my favorite girls. Miss Lucia had a playdate with one of her best friends, Alma.

And V got to just sit around looking adorable.

Good day.

MLV Go Country Clubbing

Today was interesting. Some friends invited us to a visitors' day at their Country Club. It's not something I have ever even considered or been interested in because I have always had a perception of exclusivity that made me feel uncomfortable. Today's visit changed a lot of that for me...not all of it, but a lot of it. I learned that sometimes you can't judge a book by its cover, even if the cover has a fancy name that ends with "Club"

Valentina was prepared and ready to prance around the grounds

Lucia was equally as ready in her preppy stripes

Mateo got a kick out of this table tennis set up. We were unable to play real tennis because we did not have "tennis whites"...I did mention it was a "Country Club"

Sylvie's (pictured here with Lucia) family were our hosts for the day and they were very gracious

"Cheers everyone!"

Lucia's 1st Piano Recital

After Lucia's first musical performance with her brother, she decided she wanted to forget singing and just focus on piano. Tonight was her first gig and it was fabulous. We followed the performance with a great meal at the Annual Hoboken Spaghetti Dinner.

Really cool, their performance was held in the back room at Maxwell's (famous for their live bang performances).

Lucia was focused and ready to perform

Luciap performing on the piano

As you can see with the piano performance she was a lot more at ease. It also just looked cool because she was on a legitimate stage with performance lighting. When I asked her why she wasn't as nervous with this performance as she was with the last she said "because I didn't have to look at anyone."

After her performance we headed over to Sinatra Park for the Spaghetti Dinner where there was lots of pasta and this wonderful Sinatra-like performer

Miss Lucia was very satisfied

Papi and V shared a moment on the dance floor

Mateo Goes to British Challenger Soccer Camp

Staycations are over and camps are back on. Today Mateo went to another - you guessed it- Soccer Camp! This one was being sponsored by a British organization.

He was pretty psyched to get to go with his two friends Lucas and Liam 

Sunday with Lucia & Valentina

Today Mateo had a chess tournament and Eddie took him into the City which left the girls and I home to explore Hoboken.

Since it was a nice sunny day we needed to remember to accessorize for the weather.

Valentina was prepared...

...and so was Lucia

First, we took a walk to the library where the sisters enjoyed some reading time.

Next we headed off to Lucia's favorite daytime restaurant, Panera, where V tried out her chompers on this big apple.

Lucia enjoyed her usual - mac and cheese, yogurt and an apple juice

After that we stopped by Sweets for a little, mini cupcake treat

Valentina was more fascinated with the store than she was with the cupcakes

We finished the day off with a trip to the park.

Perfectly pleasant.

MLV - Staycation Day 4

Our final day of at-home-vacation was a great one. We took the kids to see Matilda which was Lucia's 1st Broadway show and Mateo's 2nd. They were very excited since they had both seen and enjoyed the movie.

Toothless Lucia in kitty ears really looks feral

After getting into the Port Authority we walked through the city and of course came upon a street fair (which tends to be the norm in the City during the summer)

At last! We reached the theater where Matilda was showing.

"Yah can't wait!"

The wait was cool because the set was so captivating

In the end the kids were very satisfied.

Great Musical!

Great Day!

And great end to our 1st Family Staycation! 

MLV - Staycation Day 3

Well now we are midway through our staycation and doing great. Although this was a bit unexpected because Mateo spent two weeks in Science camp, the kids really wanted to go to the Liberty Science Center during our mini-break. It was a great and educational day.

We are really lucky to live so close to the Light Rail which is really close to the Science Center

First attraction that everyone wanted to visit was the Touch Tunnel. This first time Lucia went in with Mateo and Papi and she came right back at because she was scared, but later on she I returned with her and she and I braved it together. This is an image of the video they take inside the Touch Tunner. Mateo went through it pretty quickly...

...And tried to scare Papi when he came out

Next up the maneuvered through this floating net structure

After going up and down and twisting all around, they finally made it out.

The bees' exhibit was fascinating to all of the kids. They studied the hive until they found the Queen Bee

Lucia liked digging for treasure in the water with this excavator

Mateo did a great job scaling

He really kept up as the operator cranked up the speed

This bubble wrap structure was super cool

What's cool about the Liberty Science Center is that it has a section for all ages and Valentina was so excited when we finally got to go in the Toddler section. She didn't want to leave.

It was fun at the water wall...

...the hall of mirrors...

...and the rice table which was even better when her big brother and sister came to join

MLV - Staycation Day 2

On to day 2 of our Staycation. Today's events included the whole family - meaning Miss Valentina got to join in the fun. Today's destination was to the Museum of Natural History and a quick stop at Mommy's job.

Before entering the museum, the kids wanted a quick meal. Dirty water hot dogs...yum!

Greetings Mr.Brontosaurus

Lucia and Valentina were fascinated by the penguins

Very interesting

Clearly Mateo was very impressed by this Mayan artifact

My favorite room at the museum is also the creepiest...the Whale Room...

The Squid and the Whale

On our way out, we got to say "bye bye" to the Wooly Mammoth

On our way home, we stopped at OXO to say goodbye to Mommy's intern, Marisa and celebrate her departure with this cool synchronized swimmers' cake

MLV have a Staycation - Yankees Game

Since Navita is out on her honeymoon we decided to take some time off of work and do some activities around the tri-state area. To kick-off our staycation we decided to take the kids (2 out of 3) to a Yankees Game.

Before we headed out, Lucia finished up some tasks and wrote her thank you letters to her friends for coming to her party.

Getting to the game was a harrowing affair involving buses and the NYC Subway ...waiting is not easy

But finally we arrived at YANKEE STADIUM

The kids don't just like watching baseball, they like all of the goodies that come with going to a game. The paraphenelia and more importantly, the food, are some of their main attractions. First item up - pizza.

Family shot

Next goody - Cotton Candy 

(Please note Lucia's photo-bombing neighbor)

Yummy

3rd course is popcorn of course!

Yankees won! Great Game!

Back at home, Valentina got to hang out in the park with Aba. I think she had a great day too.